IN THE half century since Guyana won independence from Britain, it has switched governing parties only twice. The second time was on May 16th, when David Granger, a former chief of the country’s tiny army, was sworn in as president. His election ends 23 years of rule by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), which is dominated by Guyanese of Indian origin, whose forebears came over as indentured workers. Mr Granger belongs to the country’s other big ethnic group, descendants of slaves from Africa.
Whether this month’s election will do anything to lessen the racial polarisation that defines Guyana’s politics is unclear. The most hopeful sign is that Mr Granger ran at the head of a two-party coalition that includes the Alliance for Change (AFC), a multiracial party. It named the prime minister and also has other cabinet posts. Mr Granger’s party, A Partnership for National Unity, is also promising less divisive politics. That offers a glimmer of hope.
The conduct of the election itself does not. It was triggered by a stand-off between the outgoing president, Donald...
from The Economist: The Americas http://ift.tt/1c7gQH7
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